Hackettstown Regional Medical Center Has Rich Heritage

Legacy: A History of S.D.A. Health Care

Condensed History of Healthcare in Adventism

Medical science of the mid-1800s was a laughable situation, by today's standards. Strange remedies were used to cure the sick, including mercury, arsenic, strychnine and bleeding by leeches. Fresh vegetables were absent from most diets, and fresh air was avoided. Not surprisingly, life expectancy was brief, about 39 years on average. Deeply concerned with the state of the healing arts in those days, a small group of Seventh-day Adventists pioneered a better way of caring for the sick.

The idea of Adventist church members was to use "natural" remedies such as fresh air, sunlight, water, exercise and a balanced diet, preferably in a country setting where the noise and pollution of the city could be left behind and the sick could develop new trust in God.

In 1866 the Western Health Reform Institute opened its doors to the first patients and became a success overnight. Patients arrived from everywhere and soon the need for expansion was obvious in 1877 the institution was renamed the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Under the leadership of John Harvey Kellogg, M.D., half brother of W. K. Kellogg, the "cornflake king," the sanitarium became the largest facility of its kind in the world, caring for 1,OOO patients a day. J. H. Kellogg considered the sanitarium a "university of health." It made popular the idea of preventive medicine, an approach to health care that has characterized Seventh-day Adventisi institutions ever since. The reputation of the mother institution attracted such notables as Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, J. C. Penney, Amelia Earhart, Thomas Edison, Clara Barton and President William H. Taft. By 1900 it had spawned 26 other sanitariums and treatment facilities in the United States and abroad.

During the middle pan of the 20th century emphasis shifted from long-term to acute health care. The "sanitariums" evolved into hospitals as we know them today. Right now the Adventist Health System includes over 400 medical facilities in some 69 countries. The medical headquarters of the church was moved from Battle Creek to California, where Loma Linda University Medical Center now trains physicians, dentists, nurses and public health specialists. The center has become world famous through its infant heart transplant program and by its pioneering work in proton cancer treatment.

Hackettstown Regional Medical Center, part of Adventist HealthCare benefits from the resources and expertise available through sister institutions worldwide. Our physicians, nurses and other staff are committed to carry that torch lighted years ago in Battle Creek through the '90s and beyond. We will seek to perpetuate the healing ministry of Jesus, to fulfill our mission to restore and foster the health and happiness of all, whatever the national origin or religious persuasion. This is our heritage, our present practice and our future vision-to make man whole.